


Twist of Fate

by pixiecandy



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Magic-Users, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Yes the crossover will happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 22:19:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18270356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixiecandy/pseuds/pixiecandy
Summary: Nobody could have seen it coming. Not even her. Hope. Consequences. All Skyler wants is a place to call her own.The Particle Accelerator changed everything for Skyler. Brought new hope, gave her a place to hide during the chase. It was only in one night that everything would change.Strangers become close. The lightning bolt brought a new twist of fate. Magic twists and shapes the world. New threats bring new challenges.And makes old ones reappear with a vengeance.What Skyler wants is never going to be simple again.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a transfer from my wattpad account with some updated writing to make sure it's up to scratch... I miss writing Skyler, so maybe the new platform will give me the motivation I need to finish this.
> 
> Skyler Graham is an original character created by me and was originally designed before Constantine's appearance on Legends of Tomorrow, originally designed to be a point to tie Constantine into the CW shows. Her face claim is Alexandra Breckenridge.

The cortex to Star Labs was deserted, nine months had passed since the particle accelerator exploded exactly forty-five minutes after it went online, a wave of energy had rushed over Central City, causing the deaths of seventeen members of staff in the labs and countless members of the public.

Many surviving members of the lab had left, with the lab categorised as a level four hazardous location most people had lost their jobs and went looking for better ones – though with the fact they had worked on the infamous particle accelerator, many had been turned away and moved away from Central in hopes of finding a better life.

Skyler made her way into the cortex, eyebrow rising at the sound of Lady Gaga's Poker Face being blasted out to the coma victim whose vitals were being checked constantly and kept alive, waiting for them to wake up.

"What are you doing?" The female voice in the cortex questioned, leaning over the poor young man that still hadn't woken up nine months later, his family visited most of the time, wanting to see if there had been any kind of improvement. Doctor Caitlin Snow glared across at the engineer, Cisco Ramon, who stood chewing on a strawberry lace.

"He likes this song!"

"How can you possibly know that?" She sighed, shaking her head with a frown.

"I checked his Facebook page! I mean, he can hear everything, right?"

"Really Cisco?" Skyler laughed, walking over to check on the young man, arms folded across her chest. "You're stalking coma patients on facebook now?"

"Hey, Sky, don't you start! If it wakes him up, it wakes him up! It's worth the try." Cisco walked over to the desk in the middle of the cortex with a shrug of his shoulders, taking the packet of strawberry laces from the pocket of his jeans and offered it out to Skyler, the redhead taking one of the sweets and began to chew on it. Sky had been the nickname that he had given her, preferring to use it instead of her given name, Skyler. "How's Doctor Wells?"

"As well as he can be, Cisco, given the state of everything." She spoke in between her chewing on the sweet, tearing another piece off with her teeth. Things had changed from before the accelerator had exploded, the environment was less professional and all her fancy business suits had been replaced with a grey hoodie and jeans, even her deep red hair had gone from side buns to long and loose.

"You can't keep blaming yourself though, Sky." Cisco looked over at her, leaning against the desk. "No one could have seen the accelerator exploding, least of all you."

"Yet it wasn't your job to protect Doctor Wells. It was mine and I failed."

"Regardless of it being your job, none of us could have done anything differently." He was stern in his words, which was slightly redacted by the fact he was chewing on a strawberry lace at the same time. "No one could have known what was going to happen, least of all you."

The words were meant to be reassuring and in a sense, they were. The issue remained was that she felt as if she'd failed so many people because of her lack of ability to help – if she'd had her cards then maybe things could have been different, she could have done something.

As Cisco swallowed the strawberry lace, he began to sing along to the song that was being blasted in the cortex only for a loud gasp and the coma patient to shoot up from his bed, eyes wider than dinner plates as he croaked out. "Where am I?"

"Oh my god!" Skyler gasped, Caitlin instantly turning her attention to examining the poor young man who was more than likely dazed and confused, having a doctor try and examine him while he adjusted wasn't going to make him feel any better.

"Doctor Wells, get down to the cortex, like now!" Cisco called through a phone, Skyler trying to get Caitlin to move away from the young man as she continued to announce his vitals out loud. Only serving for her to lightly slap Skyler on the arm in an attempt to move her out of the way.

"Caitlin, you need to stop, let him adjust."

"Skyler, if this isn't done now then we won't have accurate results!"

Skyler threw her hands up, stepping back to lean against the computer desk. Better to stay out the way, let the poor guy adjust as he climbed out the bed, pulling off all the monitoring equipment in a daze. Even as Cisco explained that he was in S.T.A.R. Labs, he looked even worse – didn't help that Caitlin was examining his ears at the same time.

"S-Star labs? Who are you guys?" His voice was groggy, looking over at Skyler with a panicked expression on his face. She awkwardly waved to him as Caitlin stepped away, Cisco introducing them all to the young man.

"I'm Cisco Ramon, she's Caitlin... Doctor Snow... And that's Skyler Graham by the computer desk."

"I need you to urinate in this." Caitlin announced, holding up a plastic container that Cisco snatched away, the young man looked flustered as he looked around and finally, asked what had happened to him.

"You were struck by lightning, dude!" Cisco proclaimed, with more than a little bit of enthusiasm.

"Yeah, it was pretty fuc-" Skyler piped up, Cisco instantly covering up her language, receiving a glare from the young woman next to him.

"Pretty messed up, Skyler."

Cisco stuck his tongue out at Skyler, the young woman just throwing her middle finger up at him as she turned her attention back to former coma patient – Barry Allen, his name was. Barry turning on the spot to see himself in a mirror, or rather his lower torso and his eyes widened in shock.

"Lightning... Gave me abs?"

"Your muscles should be atrophied but instead they're in a chronic and unexplainable state of cellular regeneration." Caitlin announced as she rushed over to Barry, still trying to do a check up on him until Cisco gently grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Come here, have a seat." Skyler brought over a chair, Cisco making Barry sit down as the trio began to explain everything, Skyler folding her arms over her chest. "You were in a coma."

"For how long?"

"A while." Skyler forced out, rubbing the back of her neck. Barry just looked up at her, demanding a real answer.

"For how long?"

"Nine months." The small group turned towards the entrance of the cortex, Skyler sucking in a sharp breath. Her former boss, technically still her boss, Doctor Harrison Wells sat in his wheelchair, smiling up at Barry. "Welcome back, Mr. Allen. We have a lot to discuss."

Barry looked like he was ready to pass out, Skyler had to bit her lip, shaking her head as Wells motioned for her to follow him. Barry had been given an S.T.A.R. Labs sweater to wear, something that had previously been reserved for members of staff that needed changes of clothes if they had an accident on whatever they were working on.

The corridors were quiet and lifeless, it didn't feel the same even if there was a new voice in the corridors, trying to keep himself calm as he explained he always wanted to meet Wells. Skyler could only fold her arms over her chest, the extreme versions of Barry were the sort of people she once would have removed from press conferences, along with journalists that were purposely trying to gain negative information to slander the laboratory.

She longed for a simpler time of issuing a statement or simply dragging someone out by his or her hair if they continued to push her. She was snapped back into the conversation when they came to a halt by the balcony where the destroyed particle accelerator was.

"Seventeen people died that night, many more were injured, myself amongst them." Wells admitted, Skyler leaning on the metal railing.

"Jesus, what happened?" Barry questioned more shock on his face. Of course, he still had to catch up on everything that had happened.

"Nine months ago, the particle accelerator went online exactly as planned. For forty-five minutes I had achieved my life's dream." Wells paused, still staring down at the wreckage of the accelerator. "And then... There was an anomaly, the electron volts became unmeasurable, the ring under us popped. Energy from that detonation was thrown into the sky... and that, in turn, seeded a storm cloud-"

"That created a lightning bolt that struck me." Barry breathed out, cutting off Wells. He looked over to Skyler, the young woman nodding her head to him. "You look familiar..."

"This is Skyler Graham, my personal assistant, and bodyguard, you've probably seen her by my side at press conferences. During the explosion, she helped people evacuate and saved a lot of lives."

"Despite my job being to protect you." Skyler retorted with a shrug of her shoulders.

"The needs of many over the needs of one, Skyler, we've discussed this."

It still didn't sit right with her, she saved lives but she'd failed at protecting the one she was meant to keep safe. The one that had helped her rebuild herself, Skyler just shook her head, biting her bottom lip. "And those I saved are now scared of me, refuse to believe I didn't curse them."

"What do you mean, curse them?" Barry asked, tilting his head.

"I'll explain another time." She insisted, forcing a smile on her lips at him. "Just know that I'm single handedly the best personal assistant in Central City, I can break a man's arm in four different places and I look damn good in a skirt."

Wells shook his head in disbelief, Skyler smiling to Barry as the doctor cleared this throat, bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand, bringing Barry up to speed about how he was at S.T.A.R. Labs and not in the hospital.

"I was recovering my myself when I heard about you. The hospital was undergoing unexplainable power outages every time you were going into cardiac arrest, which was actually a misdiagnosis because you see, you weren't flatlining, Barry. Your heartbeat was moving too fast for the EKG to register it."

Skyler made her way back to the cortex, allowing Barry and Wells to talk a bit more. Cisco and Caitlin turning to see her when she walked back in.

"So, how's Barry?" Cisco questioned as he held out another strawberry lace, Skyler putting her hand up as a 'no thank you'. "Has he jumped Doctor Wells yet?"

"No, I think he's going to be fine. Both of them, I definitely think Barry is starstruck, bless."

"You didn't threaten Barry, did you?" Caitlin asked, hands resting on her hips.

"I may have mentioned I can break a man's arm in four different places." Skyler shrugged as she sat down in a chair in a reverse way with her arms resting on the back; a grin on her lips as Cisco snorted, Caitlin shaking her head in disbelief. "What? We all know it's complete bullshit anyway."

"You still brought down MedTech with only six words." Cisco said, fixing himself a juice bottle filled with orange, Caitlin beginning to prepare one of the many drinks that Wells had to drink in order to stay healthy.

"Yeah but MedTech were dying under their own bad PR, Doctor Haast clearly couldn't cope with the technological advances her company was making, so it was only a matter of time until Mercury or Star ended up buying the patents." She shrugged like it wasn't even a thing. "I just stepped in anonymously, it did help that it was near the end of my trial."

There was a sense of twisted pride within Skyler, spinning on the chair as the doors slid open, Barry and Wells coming back, discussing his family – how Detective West and his daughter, Iris, had given permission for Barry to be brought to the lab.

"Iris?" Barry said, his eyes distant.

"Iris, yes." Wells smiled. "She came to see you quite often."

"She talks a lot." Caitlin added, stepping over to Wells and handed over a metal drinks container, holding a tablet with Barry's data on it.

"Also, she's hot."

"Like really hot." Cisco nodded to Skyler, pointing the juice bottle at her with a little smirk on his lips. It was a shame that all of a sudden, Barry's eyes became even more distant and set on something else, instantly announcing that he had to leave the lab.

"I need to go."

"No. You can't." Caitlin said as Wells turned the chair to face Barry, holding the metal drink container in his hand.

"No, Caitlin's right. Now you're awake, we need to do more tests. You're still going through changes, there's so much we don't know."

"I'm fine, really. I feel normal. Thank you for saving my life." Barry put his hands up and ran out of the room, the small group shaking their heads as the young man made his way back, pulling on the sweatshirt slightly. "Can I keep the sweatshirt?"

"Yeah, keep the sweatshirt." Wells shook his head as Barry ran off again, Skyler rolling her eyes as she forced herself up from the chair, hands resting on her hips.

"Want me to follow him, Doctor Wells?"

"Just... Keep an eye on him. Don't let him know you're following him unless you have too." Wells shook his head, Skyler nodding her head.

"You got it~"

★ ★ ★

The first thing he did after changing his clothes was to head to Jitters, everything seemed so normal nine months later. Most people were acting like the memory of the particle accelerator exploding didn't even exist, going about with their daily lives like nothing had changed – for Barry, he'd missed nine months and everything was different, waking up in S.T.A.R. Labs proved it.

Jitter was the same as he remembered and she was there, her eyes wide with shock as he opened the glass doors, walking into the coffee shop. Iris set down the coffee container down on a table as Barry stopped in front of her, Iris rushing over and threw her arms around him tightly.

"You're awake! Why didn't Star Labs call us?" Iris questioned, holding Barry's arms, as she looked him up and down to make sure he was actually standing in front of her.

"I just woke up." Barry shook his head, a bright grin on his face.

"Should you even be on your feet?"

"Iris... I'm okay."

His smile fell from his lips as Iris stared up at him, eyes filled with sorrow, voice quiet and almost in disbelief. "I watched you die, Barry. You kept dying and your heart stopping..."

He took her hand, resting it over his chest so she could feel his heart beating in his chest, confirming to her that he was here in front of her. He was alive and well, he wasn't going anywhere ever again.

"It's still beating."

"Feels really fast."

Behind Iris, a customer in the queue knocked one of the waitresses that worked in the coffee shop, sending the tray that she was carrying in her hand flying from her grasp. As Barry glanced over, everything went slow, everything that was moving around him began to move at a much slower pace then as soon as it happened, everything sped up again, acting like it was normal. Iris turning around in shock at the sudden sound of shattering porcelain, seeing one of her colleagues cleaning up the spilled coffee on the ground.

"Are you okay, Tracy?"

"Yeah, I got it."

Iris was still beaming as she turned back to Barry, the young man glancing around with discomfort on his face at what just happened. He didn't know what to do, didn't know what to think about what just happened to him – trying to figure out some kind of explanation to himself.

"My dad is going to be so happy to see you! Let me get my stuff, okay? I'll be right back." Iris beamed, rushing off to grab her belongings, leaving Barry to ponder his own thoughts.

At Gold City Bank, people were going about their daily occurrences, chatting and sorting out their bank accounts. First-time homebuyers getting mortgages, some people applying for business loans. As a young woman walked away from the teller counter, the bank teller smiled at a man in a hat, who simply walked forward and placed a piece of paper down on the desk in front of her.

"This is a robbery?" She questioned after picking up the paper to read it, placing it back on the desk with a confused look on her face. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"You tell me." The man spoke, stepping back and revealed his face to her. A young man, messy blond hair with stubble, he held out his arms and clouds slowly started to form from his hands, floating around and up to the top of the bank, shattering the stained glass ceiling, thunder crackling as the shattered glass rained down, people screaming and rushing outside, calling the police.

"Oh, you scared the hell out of us, kid." Detective Joe West said, hugging Barry tightly. Iris and Barry had arrived at Central City Police Department after a brief walk from Jitters; Barry worked as a forensic investigator, using his role as a chance to investigate strange crimes in different locations across the country – including one in Starling City. Joe placed his hand on Barry's shoulder, tilting his head slightly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." Barry nodded his head, the moment interrupted by another officer who stepped towards the reunion.

"Detective West, we've got a five-fifty in progress at Gold City Bank. Two dead, storm's really picking up on the south side. I'd grab your rain gear."

"I'm sorry Barry, I gotta run." Joe sighed, grabbing his coat.

"Do you need my help?" Barry quickly asked, Joe shook his head quickly and confidently.

"No, you take it easy. There'll be plenty for you to do once you settle in, let's go, partner!"

Joe's partner stepped forward, slipping his coat on. Eddie Thawne, nicknamed 'Detective Pretty Boy' had become Joe's partner following the particle accelerator explosion. "Hey Allen, glad to see you."

"Thanks, Eddie..."

"Hey, Iris."

"Detective." Iris folded her arms over her chest, turning her attention away from Eddie. "You should go, my dad doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Eddie nodded, patting Barry on the shoulder as he rushed off after Joe, Barry glancing after him, only to notice a photo of a familiar person in the glass casing behind them. As he stepped closer, he finally saw the name on the plaque. Detective. E. Chyre.

"The night of the explosion, Clyde Mardon shot and killed Chyre. Mardon and his brother died trying to escape, their plane crashed." Iris explained softly, heading off when she was called over by someone, leaving Barry by the case.

So much had happened, so much had changed in the time that he was in a coma, he had so much to catch up on, and it didn't seem real. None of it seemed real at all. Not to mention the strange incident at Jitters that he had no idea how to explain.

"Hey Barry, good to see you." One of the officers commented as Barry smiled, nodding, watching as a criminal reached for a gun that was loose in another officers holster. Barry glared, dashing over and slammed the criminal against the desk in front of him, bolting back to where he was stood in a whoosh of papers, attempting to catch his breath as the criminal cursed out the officers as he was handcuffed once again.

"You okay?" Iris asked in shock as she stepped over, Barry just stared at her for a moment, forcing out words.

"I'm fine. I just need some air." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "But I'll call you tonight, all right?"

Iris turned and watched Barry walk away, eyebrows knotting together in confusion. Outside, Barry held his hands together, looking around as he held up his hand; it vibrated wildly, even when he grabbed hold of his wrist in an attempt to calm it down.

"What's happening to me?" He whispered, looking around, taking steps forward only to wind up rushing towards the bins, barely stopping himself from crashing into them. Turning the other way, he rushed forward again, slamming into the back of a police car, shattering the glass window in the back.

Taking steps back, Barry looked around, unaware of the young woman that was observing everything he was doing – all of the new abilities that he seemed to possess. In that moment, Barry took off, rushing down the alley at a blinding pace. The wind rushing by him, objects being blown away by the speed of which he was running.

The feeling was completely overwhelming.

His feet slipped, sending him crashing into the back of a van, the owner of the van looking in shock as he grabbed the bags from the back of the van, revealing Barry lying inside.

"Awesome." Barry grinned to himself.

The clacking of heeled boots made Barry lookup, the sight of Skyler in front of him, her eyes wide with shock and excitement, and a grin that was wider than the cat that got the cream, though her shoulders were shaking as she panted for breath.

"You're-"

"Barry... I think you need to come with me." She grinned at him, panting ever so slightly, holding out her hand to him.


	2. 2

"You don't really believe he can run that fast, do you?" Caitlin questioned, Skyler just pouted over to her and folded her arms over her chest.

"Caitlin, I'm telling you... It was real, he ran faster than... Well, anything. Come on, Doctor Wells, you believe us right?"

"Well, I believe anything is possible and in a few minutes... Maybe you will too, Caitlin."

Ferris Airfield had been used as a testing ground for S.T.A.R. Labs equipment since Skyler had been working there, or at least, maybe from the beginning of the labs opening, a small set up had been done with tables and chairs with electronics set up, using a power outlet from a truck that doubled as a motor home.

"How does it fit?" Cisco called, knocking on the truck as Barry stepped out in an unfortunately snug, bright red bodysuit complete with knee pads and helmet.

"It's a little snug."

Skyler just snorted, covering her mouth with her hand as she tried not to laugh at the sight of poor Barry. Caitlin glared across at the red head, shaking her head in disappointment.

"At least you'll be moving so fast, no one will see you." Cisco brought Barry over to a small area away from the observation zone. "See you thought the world was slowing down but it wasn't! You were moving so fast it only looked like everyone else was standing still."

Cisco motioned over to the observation zone, explaining the role that each member of the team fulfilled. "Doctor Wells and Sky will be monitoring your energy output and Caitlin, your vitals."

"What do you do?" Barry questioned to Cisco.

"I make the toys, man! Check it!" Cisco held up a small communication device to set into the helmet that Barry was wearing, a sleek black circle with a sharp golden lightning bolt on the side. "This is a two way headset with a camera I modified, typically designed for combat battlefield impulse noise. Or in your case, potential sonic booms..." Cisco's smile grew into a toothy grin as he pulled the helmet off Barry's head to fit the device in. "Which would be awesome!"

Doctor Wells sat at the small table with a laptop as Caitlin messed around with parameters on the tablet in her hands. As Caitlin turned away and stepped over to Barry, Wells turned his head up at Skyler.  
"Give me the card." He spoke quietly, his voice loud enough for only the two of them to hear.

"What are you talking about?"

"Skyler, if Barry is as fast as you're claiming he is... You wouldn't have been able to keep up without the use of your cards."

It fell silent between the two of them, Skyler's breath hitching in her throat before shaking her head. Of course, he'd know, Cisco and Caitlin never knew about the cards, they didn't need to know... And following the explosion, Wells had locked away the rest of the cards in order to protect Skyler.

"Okay." She mumbled, drawing a card from the back pocket of her jeans, holding it out to him. The Chariot. One of the major arcana tarot cards in a deck of twenty-one major cards, and one of the sources of her power. "Here..."

"I know you want to use them-"

"I collapsed last time, I know. The energy required to use them is too great."

Energy. If only that were all that was hidden away within the potential of the cards when they were in Skyler's hands. Wells knew enough, about the effects on Skyler when she overused them... He didn't need to know about the other side effect, not unless it caught up with her.

Wells took hold of the card from Skyler's hand, slipping it inside his coat pocket before Cisco made his way over, adjusting the helmet as he glanced up at the now distant looking Skyler.

"Everything alright, Sky?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... Just worried about Barry."

She glanced over to Barry and Caitlin, where the young doctor was fiddling around with the tablet and suit to make sure that Barry's vitals were being displayed on the screen. Caitlin never took her eyes off the tablet as she spoke to Barry, noticing that he was staring at her.

"What?"

"Nothing." He shook his head awkwardly. "I just notice you don't smile too much."

Caitlin almost glared as she looked up at Barry, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "My once-promising career in bioengineering is over. My boss is in a wheelchair for life. The explosion that put you in a coma also killed my fiancé. So this blank expression kind of feels like the way to go."

Barry glanced down at the ground as Caitlin finished up her work, walking back over to Skyler and Cisco, Wells moved over to Barry, tapping at the small tablet that was attached to his chair before slipping on his sunglasses.

"Mr. Allen, while I am extremely eager to determine your full range of abilities... I do caution restraint."

"Y-yeah..."

Skyler folded her arms across her chest as Barry crouched into the beginning position for racing, Cisco almost looked too eager as he held out the speed monitor, Barry breathed in sharply before taking off, blasting the air behind him, knocking Cisco and Skyler to the ground.

"I told you! I told you so!" Skyler laughed loudly as she forced herself up, Caitlin staring in disbelief, Wells hurrying back to the computers to monitor what was happening. Barry was nothing more than a blur, a red blur. Cisco couldn't stop himself from shouting at the top of his voice.

"He's just past two hundred miles per hour!"

"That's impossible!" Caitlin gasped out; Skyler shook her head still smiling away as she turned to glance at Wells.

"Nothing is impossible, not anymore." Barry could run faster than any human possible. Superpowers were completely real, the lightning that had struck Barry – it gave him superpowers. The explosion from the particle accelerator had created superpowers for ordinary human beings. Which made Skyler's eyes widen before rushing over to Wells. "What if Barry isn't the only one with powers..."

"Skyler, we've spoken about this before."

"No, not me! What if others were given powers like Barry from the explosion."

"There could be a possibility... The dark matter did spread across the city. If Barry is the only person affected then I will be surprised."

A loud crash and explosion made Skyler and Wells focus back on what was in front of them, a torrent of water in the air that flew back down to the ground within seconds.

"Oh god, that's... really going to fucking hurt." Skyler hissed, watching as Caitlin and Cisco began to rush towards Barry's location at the end of the runway on the airfield.

★ ★ ★

"I'm gonna go make a phone call guys..."

Skyler forced a smile as she left the cortex, taking her phone from the pocket of her jeans. Barry's arm was broken after his collision on the airfield, something that wouldn't heal for a good few months... And it happened right after the guy woke up from a coma, the guy couldn't have been anymore unlucky if he tried.

Tapping the pin code in on her phone to unlock it, Skyler brought up her contact app, in times like these... There was one person she could turn to, could call if anything felt wrong. The name was lit up on screen, her thumb hanging over the call button.

John Constantine.

Hitting the call button, she held the phone up to her ear and smiled, eagerly waiting to hear her close friends voice once again after such a long time. The smile slowly dipped into a frown when she only received the voicemail tone instead of his actual voice.

_'This is John Constantine, I can't take your call right now – leave a message after the tone and I'll get back to you.'_

The tone rang out, Skyler breathing in as she began to talk, leaning against the nearby wall of the hallway.

"Hey, John... It's Skyler, just thought I'd call and check you were okay. Um... Remember that kid I told you about, that one in the coma that we were monitoring at the lab with permission from his family after he was hit by lightning? Well, he woke up today... And god, John, you're not going to believe this... He has... Superpowers, he can run super fast... Like beyond two hundred miles per hour."  
She had to take her breath, everything that happened... Everything that she thought was suddenly stable in her life had changed once more,  
"I don't have my cards anymore, John... They're being kept safe, I just never told you. I don't think it's coming after me anymore or... At least I think I'm hidden at the minute. Just... John, give me a call soon, yeah?"

Moving the phone from her ear, Skyler hung up the call. Footsteps made her look up to see Cisco meekly standing away from her.

"Need a hug?" His voice was soft; she nodded to him as she slid her phone back in her pocket. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her tight against him. Cisco had always given the best hugs in S.T.A.R. Labs, even on the first day when she welcomed him to the team, with a few drinks later after they'd both finished, they'd already become strong and firm friends. He broke the hug with a huge grin on his face, forcing Skyler to do the same. "C'mon let's go get some food, Caitlin's running tests on Barry to help heal his arm quicker."

"Sounds like a damn good plan."

★ ★ ★

_"Look I know I don't have an appointment but please! I really need this interview!" The young redhead begged, heels clacking against the marble flooring of the building entrance._

_"I'm sorry but I can't let you in, if you don't have an appointment you can't see him!" The elder woman snapped at the young woman, the redhead in front of her frown as she clutched hold of a small file with a CV. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave before I call the police!"_

_"It's quite alright Carlotta, I'll interview her for the role." A male voice interrupted, the young redhead looking up and swallowed sharply at the handsome man in front of her. The receptionist nodded, turning her attention back to the computer as he stepped towards the woman, introducing himself to her. "Doctor Harrison Wells, a pleasure to meet you, miss?"_

_"Uh, Skyler! Skyler Graham!" The redhead smiled brightly, holding out her hand for him to shake, he took hold of it with a smile, shaking her hand firmly._

_"Pleasure, Miss Graham. Would you like to follow me to my office?"_

★ ★ ★

"It looks like you had a distal radius fracture."

Caitlin held up the x-rays that were taken of Barry's arm on a tablet for him to see, Skyler and Cisco had slipped back in the lab a while ago after quickly getting takeout from the nearby Big Belly Burger. Barry raised an eyebrow at the comment, Skyler sitting at a nearby computer, typing up the notes that had been made on Barry.

"Had?"

"It's healed." Caitlin tapped the screen, displaying another x-ray that showed his arm all healed up like there wasn't even a problem there in the first place. "In three hours."

"How is that even possible?"

"We don't know... Yet." Caitlin added the yet, the team was determined to figure out what was going off with his powers and what they could do. She stepped away from Barry, Cisco showing the bruised and battered red helmet to Barry and made a comment about him needing to stop. All that could be briefly heard was Skyler typing away on the keyboard until Wells broke the silence.

"What happened out there today?" He questioned, moving his chair in front of Barry. "You were moving pretty well and then something caused you to lose focus."

"I started remembering something." Barry stopped rubbing his arm, focusing more on Wells as he motioned his head for Barry to share what he remembered while he was running down the track. "When I was eleven, my mother was murdered."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at Barry, shock, and sadness in their eyes. Barry had to force himself to continue, his voice soft and quiet, like he didn't want to speak of what happened all those years ago – Skyler couldn't blame him, that kind of trauma would never leave you.

"It was late. The sound woke me up... I came downstairs... And... I saw what looked like a ball of lightning." Wells slid off his glasses briefly, checking through the lenses then slid them back on his face while Barry took in a deep breath and continued the story. "Inside the lightning... There was a man. He killed my mom. They arrested my dad. He's still sitting in Iron Heights for her murder. Everyone, the cops, the shrinks, they all told me what I saw was impossible."

Wells glanced over to Skyler briefly; her hand was trembling on the mouse as she listened to Barry's story. Though Barry speaking again snapped his attention back to the young man.

"But what if the man who killed my mom was like me?"

It fell silent again for a few seconds until Wells finally spoke up. "Well, I think I can say unequivocally, you are one of a kind." His voice kind and reassuring to Barry, watching as the young man nodded his head from slight relief and disappointment.

Skyler lowered her head and focused on the computer once more. She knew that the words that Wells said... Was more than likely a lie.


	3. 3

Skyler knew that the words that Wells said to Barry would come back to bite all of them if Barry had powers because of the particle accelerator then it was more than likely that other people had been given them. Caitlin found Skyler sat at a computer, searching for any kind of freak accidents or occurrences that could have happened in the nine months that had passed.

"You realize that Doctor Wells is already researching to see if the particle accelerator affected anyone else, don't you?"

"Yeah, I just... Want to be a bit more useful around here, Caitlin. The bodyguard job is kinda out the window, isn't it?"

Caitlin forced a smile as she sat down next to Skyler at the desk, looking at the small notebook that contained potential Meta-Human sightings – the official name that people changed by the accelerator as dubbed by the still remaining team at the lab.

"I think Doctor Wells appreciates you still being around, Skyler." Caitlin said softly, watching Skyler scribble down some new information on a set of freak storms that lasted not ten minutes and matched with robberies at banks around the Central City area. "You're just as much a part of this as us."

"Yeah... That's true..."

Skyler paused for a moment, setting the pen down on the desk.

"Tell you what, how about us two go out on the town one night this week and get as many people as possible to buy us drinks." Skyler grinned, nudging Caitlin with her elbow. "C'mon, it's been ages since we went out and hustled people to buy us drinks!"

"You mean it's been ages since you did that?"

"Well, yeah... But come on, it's fun!" She spun on the chair, making finger guns at Caitlin. "You've not lived until you've hustled money out of a guy through a pool table who thinks you're dumb as rocks. C'mon, Caitlin, we need a girls night!"

"Maybe some other time." Caitlin nodded with a slight smile on her lips, Cisco and Wells making their way into the cortex, joining them by the desk. "I promise." Skyler took hold of Caitlin's hand, squeezing it with a grin.

"I wasn't the only one affected by the particle accelerator explosion, was I?"

The booming voice of Barry entered the cortex, Skyler's eyes widening in shock. He was seething with rage; Barry must have met someone else with powers, just like Skyler assumed there would be. Wells glanced across to the team then back at Barry, Skyler just turned the notebook over so the writing wasn't obvious on it.

"We don't know for sure."

"You said the city was safe, that there was no residual danger." Barry stepped forward, shaking his head, arguing back against the words that Wells spoke. "But that's not true. What really happened that night?"

Wells looked back at the trio at the desk then back at Barry once more, tapping on the tablet that was attached to his chair, throwing some information up to one of the large display screens dotted around the cortex. "Well, the accelerator went active. We all felt like heroes, and then..." Barry turned around to look at the screen, showing a display of what happened with the particle accelerator. "It all went wrong. The dimensional barrier ruptured unleashing unknown energies into our world. Antimatter, dark energy, X-elements-"

"Those are all theoretical." Barry interrupted.

"And how theoretical are you?" Barry fell silent at that, looking back at the screen as it changed to a map of the city with light dots all over it. Caitlin was right, Wells had been doing his own research into the possibility of others having powers. "We mapped the dispersion throughout and around Central City though we have no way of knowing exactly what or who was exposed."

Skyler couldn't help but fiddle with the edge of the page in the notebook when Caitlin looked at her. Other meta-humans, people like Barry. The explosion could have triggered anything... The loss of energy she felt, the explosion could have brought Necrozma closer to her...

"We've been searching for other meta-humans like yourself."

"Meta-humans?" Barry questioned, Caitlin answering his question only seconds later.

"That's what we're calling them."

"I saw one today. He's a bank robber." Shit, just like the notes that she'd already made from just doing research online. Skyler just thumbed the page again, turning it over and breathed in sharply. "He can control the weather." God, she missed working with John, at least everything then was straightforward, knew exactly what she was dealing with in comparison to whatever this was.

She needed to get her cards back and pack her bags, leave Central City as soon as possible.

And yet, this was just as much her mess as anyone else in the cortex, they allowed the particle accelerator to go live. They didn’t plan for it to explode, but they sure as hell had to deal with the consequences of their actions.

Leaving Central City was the priority, but Skyler had to at least see this through first.

"This just keeps getting cooler!" Cisco announced a grin on his face.

"This is not cool!" Barry snapped back, the grin dropping from Cisco's face. "All right? A man died! Mardon must have gotten his powers the same way I did, from the storm cloud. He's still out there! We have to stop him before he hurts anyone else!" He turned on the spot, heading towards the door once again.

"Barry. That's a job for the police."

"I work for the police."

"As a forensic assistant."

"You're responsible for this. For him."

"What's important is you!" Skyler jumped, knocked from her thoughts as Wells raised his voice. "Not me. I lost everything, I lost my company, I lost my reputation, and I lost my freedom... And then you broke your arm and it healed in three hours. Inside your body could be a map to a whole new world. Genetic therapies, vaccines, medicines, treasures buried deep within your cells." Barry fell silent as Wells continued. "And we cannot risk losing everything because you want to go out and play hero! You're not a hero. You're just a young man who was struck by lightning."

It fell silent between them all, Skyler couldn't even look at Barry as he stormed out of the cortex, sliding doors opening and closing behind him. Wells turned towards the trio at the desk, Skyler biting her lip; it was the same as nine months ago when he took the cards from her.

"That was uncalled for." Skyler piped up, hands clenching into fists as she glared across at Wells. "It's natural that he would react like that, you watch someone die in front of you when you can do something about it? It hurts more than you can imagine."

"This doesn't concern you."

"It does concern me! It concerns all of us since he was our patient! Barry Allen has superhuman powers because of our particle accelerator!" She forced herself up from the chair, shouting back at Wells as he glared at her. "We need to do something because if there are people out there with powers like Barry... You sure as shit know that the police aren't going to be able to handle it!"

Cisco and Caitlin glanced at one another, watching silently as Skyler moved towards the door. Hands shaking with rage, she threw them up in the air, spinning on the spot to speak once more.  
"Fine then, I want my cards back, I quit. If we're not going to do anything then that's it, I don't belong here."

With that, Skyler left the cortex, Wells reaching up and slid his glasses off, shaking his head in disappointment. Cisco nodded to Caitlin, getting up from the desk and hurried after the redhead in an attempt to calm her down.

"Doctor Wells... What did Skyler mean when she said she wanted her cards back?"

"It doesn't matter, Caitlin." He sighed, disappointed. "Nothing you need to worry about."

★ ★ ★

_"Doctor Wells!"_

_The lab was in chaos, people running, screaming as lights flashed, desperately attempting to get people to safety, Skyler rushed through the corridors of the lab, pushing people towards the exit, high heels discarded somewhere else within the lab._

_"Where are you? Answer me!"_

_"Skyler!"_

_At the end of the corridor, trapped under rubble, Wells laid on his front, trying to claw his way out. Skyler crouched down in front of him, taking hold of the concrete and pulled upwards as hard as she could, Wells crawling_

_"Hold on, I know what to do!" She insisted, panic in her voice as she took a card from the pocket inside her suit jacket. The tarot card for strength, she whispered softly, holding the card close to her chest as it lit up, the light bathing her in a soft aura before sliding the card away once more. "This is going to hurt and I'm sorry."_

_Rising to her feet, she pulled the rubble up like it was nothing, watching as Wells managed to crawl his way out of the rubble using his arms. When he was finally free, she dropped it, the aura vanishing from around her. Instantly, she stumbled and collapsed to the floor, panting sharply for air, hands shaking._

_"A-are you okay?"_

_"Y-yes... I..." His eyes widened as he went to push himself up from the floor, simply collapsing under his own weight._

_"Doctor Wells?"_

_"I... I can't feel my legs."_

_"J-just hold on, I'll get you out of here, I promise!"_

★ ★ ★

Her bags were packed when she returned to Star labs that night, a text from Cisco saying it was urgent that she appeared. She'd already booked a train to take her to Keystone city that same night, so she'd be gone and out of Central by the morning. It'd give her time to get away from Necrozma if he was tracking her, call John and find out where his next job was so she could meet up with him.  
Only when she arrived at the lab, Caitlin and Cisco were stood around a table with Barry, boxes of evidence from the CCPD were strewn all over the surface. Cisco grinned when he saw her, stepping over and pulled her into a tight hug; she just pulled a face when she broke the hug.

"What's going on?" She questioned, joining them at the table.

"I've been going over unsolved cases from the past nine months." Barry explained, Skyler nodding her head slowly. "And there's been a sharp increase in unexplained deaths and missing people. Your meta-humans have been busy. I'm not blaming you, I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen. I know you all lost something... But I need your help to catch Mardon and anyone else out there like him. I can't do it without you."

Skyler bit her bottom lip, going behind Wells back in order to help Barry catch meta-humans that were hurting people? That's why Cisco called her back to the lab, the threat to quit if they didn't do anything. She had to run a hand through her hair, forcing a smile.

"I'll do what I can to help, Barry."

"If we're gonna do this... I have something that might help." Cisco piped up, nudging Skyler next to him. Her eyes widened briefly after she tilted her head in confusion, the firefighter project that he'd been working on in his own time.

"You think it'll hold up?" Caitlin commented with a tilt of her head, heading towards the desk to pick up one of the tablets and began to fiddle with the settings once she had it in her hands.

"Damn right I do." Cisco led Barry over to the small room where the suit was kept on a display, Skyler leaned against the wall, tilting her head as she watched Barry's reaction to the dark red suit with tiny lines of yellow running down it. "This is something I've been playing with. It's designed to replace the turnouts that firefighters traditionally wear... I thought if Star labs did something nice for the community, people wouldn't be so angry at Doctor Wells anymore."

"How is it going to help me?" Barry asked, stepping towards the suit, admiring Cisco's handiwork.

"It's made of a reinforced tri-polymer. Its heat and abrasive resistant to withstand your moving at high-velocity speeds and the aerodynamic design should help you maintain control." Cisco explained, a grin on his lips as he talked about the work he was so proud of. "Plus, it has built-in sensors so we can track your vitals and stay in contact with you from here."

"So basically, Barry, you run as fast as you need in that and it should technically not burn to pieces." Skyler piped up, pointing at the suit. "Afraid to say you're our guinea pig for this since... Well, you're the only one that can run super fast."

"Thanks." Barry snorted, turning to Caitlin. "How do we find Mardon?"

"I retasked Star labs' satellite to track meteorological abnormalities over Central City, we just got a ping. Atmospheric pressure dropped twenty millibars in a matter of seconds. I've tracked it to a farm just west of the city."

Skyler tapped Barry on the shoulder as he took a step closer to the suit, a slight smile on her lips. "Go get 'em, fighter."

★ ★ ★

"I'm not saying Mardon is alive!" The door to the car slammed shut on both sides, Detective Joe West climbing from the drivers' side of the car with his partner, Eddie Thawne. "But if he was, this is the last place him and his brother hid out! Let's go!"

They had to be on their toes, the accident that Barry found himself involved in confirmed that the bank robber was Clyde Mardon, but the main problem was that he died nine months ago in a plane with his brother when the particle accelerator exploded. The farm was deserted apart from the detectives, taking their guns out just in case they needed to defend themselves. They gingerly took steps inside the barn, looking around until they came across a figure sat in the middle of the light on a simple stool.

"Mardon." Joe called out, tone authoritative and to the point, lowering his gun. "On your feet, hands on your head."

"You got me, heh." Mardon laughed as Joe silently put his gun away, retrieving handcuffs from the inside of his coat. "The night of the storm, after Star labs blew, after our plane went down, and I woke up on the ground alive... When I saw what I could do, I understood. I am God."

"Shut the hell up." Joe forced out, shaking his head as Eddie stepped forward, Mardon sliding off the stool with his hands in the air.

"Turn around." Eddie demanded, only for Mardon's hands to start twitching, clouds starting to form around his hands until he spun on the spot, blowing Joe and Eddie back with a severe gust of wind. Eddie landed against a crate, knocking him out briefly as the wind took up, Mardon yelling out to Joe, who was still awake.

"Do you think your guns can stop God?"

"Why in the hell would God need to rob banks?"

"You're right... I've been thinking too small."

The wind picked up, twirling around Mardon until the clouds turned a dark brown, forming a tornado around him. Swirling, destroying the roof of the barn, Joe grabbed Eddie, yanking him outside the barn as the wind blew them forward, slamming into the car they arrived in. Debris flew around in the air, a large piece of wood flying towards Joe, until a yellow strip of lightning slammed into it, knocking it down and itself to the ground.

'Barry. Barry, this thing's getting closer! Wind speeds are two hundred miles per hour and increasing. Barry, can you hear me?'

Pushing the debris away, Barry rose to his feet in the red suit from earlier, he held his hand to the communication device after yanking off the oxygen mask from the front of the suit. Cisco spoke through the radio in the suit from his place at the desk in Star labs, Skyler and Caitlin next to him, monitoring on the computers.

'If it keeps up, this could become an F-5 tornado.'

"And it's headed towards the city, how do I stop it?" Barry questioned, watching as the tornado twisted its way towards the city. Skyler bit her lip; thinking carefully as Caitlin and Cisco began to panic, wasn't the tornado spinning one way? Would Barry be able to reverse it? "Guys!"

'Barry. Can you unravel the tornado? Reverse it somehow?' Skyler spoke into the microphone, running a hand through her hair. 'Run around it in the opposite direction, maybe?'

Caitlin stared at Skyler for a moment, tilting her head in confusion as Barry responded back to them finally.

'It's worth a try!'

"He'd have to clock seven hundred miles per hour to do that." Cisco commented, quickly calculating the speed that Barry would need to go.

"Your body might not be able to handle that speed, you'll die." Caitlin piped up into the microphone.

'I have to try.' Was the last thing Barry said to them through the communications before zipping towards the tornado, running around it in the opposite direction, leaving a trail of yellow behind him from his speed. Cisco grinned at the computer, watching the vitals from Barry.

"Ha ha! The suit's holding up!" He exclaimed in joy, Skyler just shook her head, looking over at Barry's vitals on Caitlin's screen instead.

"But he's not!"

"He can do it, I know he can do it."

Skyler at that point wished she had Cisco's confidence in Barry, the way the vitals were showing up on the screen? The speed that Barry was going was killing him, he was going too fast into using his powers, he needed that build up towards using them properly and he'd thrown himself into the deep end.

Just like she'd done herself.

While lost in her own thoughts, Mardon threw more energy at Barry, knocking him off course from the tornado, only when his voice appeared in the lab through the communications, did she finally register what was happening. 'It's too strong!' The tornado gushed up faster, spinning and twisting towards the city even faster than before.

"You can do this, Barry." The trio at the desk turned their heads to see Wells silently move towards them, speaking into the microphone at the desk. "You were right, I am responsible for all of this. So many people have been hurt because of me, and when I looked at you, all I saw was another potential victim of my hubris. And yes, I created this madness... But you, Barry, you can stop it. You can do this... Now... Run Barry! Run!"

Barry rushed forward, letting the speed take over as he ran around the tornado, faster than before, Skyler's eyes widened as she watched the vitals on screen. The tornado was fading; Mardon was losing control of his powers because of how fast Barry was running. It was working! The tornado exploded in a cloud of smoke, and just like that, everything went silent.  
"Barry?" Caitlin called out into the microphone, only to hear what was happening on the other side.

"Hey. I didn't think there was anyone else like me." Mardon spoke, forcing himself up with a gun in his hand, pointing it at Barry. The mask had fallen from his face, revealing his true identity to Clyde Mardon.

"I'm not like you. You're a murderer." Barry retorted, eyes narrowing at Mardon as he smirked at him.

Gunshots rang out.

"BARRY!" Skyler called out down the microphone, it went silent once more until finally, a voice spoke on the other line.

'It's over. I'm okay.'

Relief washed over them all, Skyler grinning as she brushed the hair from her eyes, looking at the clock to see that she'd missed her train to Keystone. Maybe it was for the best, leaning back in the chair, she breathed out. The excitement that washed through her, everything was going to be okay.

Barry was a hero.

He was using his powers for good.

"... I think I need to go and unpack..." She muttered as Caitlin and Cisco got up to record the data that they'd collected through stopping Mardon, Wells looked over to Skyler, watching as she rolled her chair over to him, awkwardly poking his arm. "I owe you an apology for yelling like I did..."

"You were frustrated, you had every right."

"Did I?" She awkwardly laughed, shaking her head as Wells slid his glasses back on, she reached up and rubbed the back of her neck, biting her bottom lip. "I... Don't want to really quit, if you'll let me stay?"  
"You're always welcome on the team, Miss Graham."

Skyler couldn't help but grin at that, Wells gently patting Skyler on the shoulder, Cisco interrupting the moment between them both by shouting through to the main area of the cortex.

"Celebratory Big Belly Burger!"

"Only if you get cheesy fries!"


End file.
